Microsoft Plans To Offer Governments Local Version of Azure Cloud Service

On Monday, the multinational tech company, Microsoft said that it makes possible for its government clients to run its cloud tech on their respective servers, with an aim to make Microsoft’s cloud platform – Azure more appealing to local and federal agencies.

The combination of Azure Stack, Microsoft’s localized cloud product, and Azure Government, a Microsoft version of the cloud that is customized for the governments. And this new initiative can be seen as possible compassion to Amazon Inc for significant clients, especially in the public sector.

Tom Keane, Microsoft’s Azure’s head of global infrastructure said that the new cloud platform would be available for different sectors of the government by mid-2018. And that the new Platform is designed for governments and agencies with requirements for on-field servers, for example, it can be used in a military operation or an embassy abroad.

Given that the cloud computing market is to go up to $75 billion in the year 2018, almost making up for a 36% increase from 2017 (as reported by Canalys). While Amazon Inc stands as a leader in the cloud market with a 32% share, Microsoft stands next, with 14% share in the market (reported Canalys for the fourth quarter of 2017).

Amazon had a head start with building clients and that too prominent one such as the CIA. However, Microsoft seems to have been catching with its Azure by leveraging its existing relationships with the government agencies. The on-premise version of the cloud platform is somewhat appealing to those government agencies that want to use the storage system to their advantage for compliance or logistical reasons. One would agree that this is a smart move by the tech giant, Microsoft, while one would want to wait to see how localizing Azure would help government agencies in real life.

Source: Reuters

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Lakshmi Chirumamilla is an associate editor at StartupWorld. Lakshmi has a deep knowledge about the concept of a Startup and she works with Startup Founders across the globe to help them share their success story on StartupWorld. Prior to becoming an Associate Editor, Lakshmi interned with JWT Mindset and NDTV - national news channel that provides the latest news from India and the world. She spends her free time with a book or a sketchpad.